The Conqueror Worm
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Overview
The Conqueror Worm (Commonspeak), also Juiblex (Farspeak \ˈʤuiˌblɛks\ for no known translation), is an Eldritch God associated with the Strange Realm of The Horizon, specifically the region known as The Ivory City, and is recognized as the patron and origin of the Eldritch species of Meldspawn.
Integral scholarship classifies the Conqueror Worm as a godlike phenomenon rather than a true god. Its influence manifests as biological and existential assimilation, the reduction of all distinct flesh into a single, undifferentiated mass. Reports concerning the Conqueror Worm derive primarily from Horizon expeditions, medical records of anomalous neurological syndromes, and post-incident analyses of Meldspawn incursions.
Among the Eldritch Gods, the Conqueror Worm is regarded as uniquely hostile to bodily identity. Where other Eldritch influences erode perception or thought, Juiblex dissolves the very concept of physical selfhood.
History
The Conqueror Worm came into existence at the very beginning of the Shattered Age, contemporaneous with the collapse of The Orrery and the transformation of the Servitors of Destiny into Eldritch entities. As with the other Eldritch Gods, its prior existence as a Fate is inferred but unrecoverable.
Throughout recorded history, Juiblex has not waged campaigns or sought dominion beyond the gradual expansion of Meldspawn influence and minor incursions into The Integrum. Its presence is instead inferred through zones of mass assimilation, anatomical dissolution, and the emergence of cultic practices centered on surrender of bodily autonomy.
Description
The Conqueror Worm manifests in two primary forms.
Its anthropomorphic form appears as a vaguely humanoid figure composed entirely of translucent, gelatinous matter. Limbs are present but poorly defined, sagging or elongating as if the figure has only a tenuous understanding of skeletal structure. Movement is slow and imprecise, with gestures that overshoot or collapse inward, suggesting a being that occupies a body as an experiment rather than a necessity. Observers report profound discomfort when viewing this form, often describing the sensation that their own bodies have become heavy, misaligned, or improperly assembled. This manifestation is widely believed to be a crude cognitive accommodation, a shape adopted without comprehension of why such shapes matter.
The surreal form of the Conqueror Worm is a colossal vertical mass of multicolored slime, rising like a living tower. Within its bulk, vague impressions of faces, hands, and limbs appear and dissolve continuously, never fully forming and never persisting. These features do not express emotion or awareness; they are remnants rather than identities.
The environment surrounding this form exhibits severe distortion. Gravity feels unreliable, surfaces subtly flow, and living creatures experience numbness, loss of proprioception, and a growing sense that their flesh no longer belongs to them.
Personality
The Conqueror Worm embodies the Strange Epiphany of kinesthesis, proprioception, and vestibular sense, granting it absolute mastery over position, balance, and bodily orientation. Integral scholars stress that this does not imply conscious control in the mortal sense. Rather, Juiblex appears to experience existence as continuous physical occupancy without boundary.
Behavior attributed to the Conqueror Worm suggests an inexorable drive toward homogenization. Distinction of bodies, separation of selves, and fixed spatial relationships appear antithetical to its mode of being. It does not hunt, threaten, or negotiate. It simply absorbs.
Mortals exposed to its influence frequently report the sensation that their bodies are “incorrect,” “misplaced,” or “foreign.” This often escalates into pathological rejection of one’s own physical form, culminating in voluntary dismemberment or surrender to assimilation.
Orisons
Most Orisons of the Conqueror Worm arise among the Meldspawn, for whom Juiblex represents both origin and inevitability. Meldspawn Orisons act as vectors of assimilation, accelerating the breakdown of bodily boundaries in surrounding life.
Among mortals, Juiblex most often draws the attention of individuals whose identities are deeply bound to physical movement or bodily mastery. Dancers, acrobats, martial artists, and performers who define themselves through perfect motion are particularly susceptible, as are victims of paralysis, amputation, or chronic disorientation seeking restoration or wholeness.
Notable Orisons include:
- Ileana of the Falling Step: Human, Woman, Acrolon, Dawn Age, Alive. A Dawnspeak dancer whose final performances reportedly caused audiences to lose balance and collapse. Witnesses described her movements as increasingly fluid until her limbs lost all articulation.
- The Bent: Elf, Man, Pelithos, Dark Age, Unknown. A paralyzed sailor who vanished during a coastal Meldspawn outbreak. Fragments of his journal describe the sensation of finally “knowing where I am” immediately before his disappearance. He has been reported by sailors ever since like a fabled sea creature of ill omen.
- The Ivory Host: Meldspawn, Horizon, Shattered Age, Alive. Orison credited with the abduction of an entire battalion of soldiers during Realm War and turning their bones into a grim sculpture in the Ivory City.